Migrant crisis: European Council president Tusk warns Schengen on brink of collapse

The Schengen area, which allows free movement, is under threat as Sweden
reintroduces border controls and Slovenia builds razor-wire fence

A Slovenian soldier walks along a wire fence outside the village of Veliki ObrezPhoto: REUTERS

By Matthew Holehouse in Valletta, Isabelle Fraser

1:13AM GMT 13 Nov 2015

Summary of what happened at Malta summit

The European Council president warned on Thursday that Europe faces a "race against time" to save the Schengen free-travel zone, as a plan to halt the influx of migrants from Africa unravelled and Sweden became the latest EU state to implement border controls.

“Saving Schengen is a race against time and we are determined to win that race. Without effective control on our external borders, the Schengen rules will not survive,” said Donald Tusk.

"Time is running out," he added later.

After a fierce response from African leaders at a summit in the Maltese capital, EU proposals to deport African migrants were radically watered down, with a final text saying that failed asylum seekers should ideally be “voluntarily” sent home – raising serious questions about how many can be expected to leave.

A fundraising drive designed to buy African consent fell badly short. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, wanted states to volunteer €1.8 billion in aid, to be matched from central EU funds. But leaders offered a total of just €78 million, less than a twentieth of the target. A marble statue erected to mark the meeting suddenly appeared hubristic.

“For the saving of banks, in one night we have hundreds of millions of euros. For saving lives, we are relatively reluctant,” said Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament.

Macky Sall, the president of Senegal who spoke on behalf of his continent at the summit, said it was not enough. “We would like to see this fund more generously financed.”

He accused the Europeans of pandering to “popular opinion”, and used the summit to denounce Western tax avoidance.

“There is a fundamental, philosophical question: you cannot insist on Africans being readmitted to their countries of origin when you are welcoming Syrians and others. The numbers of Africans migrating towards Europe are not as great as people say."

Latest flop...

It is the latest flop in a series of flops for Brussels. A scheme to relocate some 160,000 people around the bloc has so far moved fewer than 200.

In light of the poor response to the African fundraising drive, Mr Juncker will risk another bruising clash with member states already seething over the quota scheme with a new plan to raise some €2.5 billion to give to Turkey, in exchange for it agreeing to halt the flow of migrants over its border.

The funds will be raised under a new law, in accordance to the relative size of each state’s economy. Britain’s share will be some £275 million.

But convincing Turkey to help solve the crisis will be no easier than Africa. A further summit to persuade Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, to seal his borders will take place at the end of November.

Sweden became the latest country to suspend the Schengen system, with police telling travellers to bring passports in order to cross temporary new border controls. Officers boarded incoming trains to check documents and Germany said dozens of migrants had been barred from boarding Sweden-bound ferries. The Swedish government said it would “bring order” as some 200,000 asylum seekers are expected in the sparsely-populated state this year - the highest per capita of any EU state.

As the move was announced, Sweden's immigration minister used an interview with the BBC to call on the rest of Europe - and particularly the UK - to do more to help, saying: "We cannot be the one country, year after year, that is doing more than any other country."

Meanwhile, Hungary turned on Germany for its decision to reapply the so-called Dublin rules, meaning from now on it will return asylum seekers in the country to EU states they previously passed through.

Hungary blamed Angela Merkel’s suspension of the rules for sparking the rapid influx into Europe by issuing an effective “invitation” to the world.

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, met the German announcement by pronouncing the Dublin system is "dead", before going on to list the recent successes of the Hungarian border security agencies in repelling migrants at the border. The country was ready to build another fence along its border with Romania in addition to those already erected along the frontiers of Serbia and Croatia, if the crisis warranted it, Viktor Orban's spokesman said today.

Municipal workers clean up trash in the "New Jungle" migrant camp in Calais

A Hungarian diplomatic source told The Telegraph that there was "no chance" that Hungary would accept even small number of migrants back from Germany, even if they had first registered in Hungary, describing the move as a "political impossibility" for the conservative Hungarian prime minister.

David Cameron warned that European countries may have to erect internal border controls if they fail to get a grip on the migration crisis.

"Clearly we need to have either a system with external borders or a system with internal border. You can't have a system with borders that don't work at either level."

Read on to learn more about how the day's events evolved...

Tusk says Cameron's renegotiation requests are "tough"

Donald Tusk, European Council president, says British requests are “tough”.

He told the Telegraph: “The requests are tough. This is why this letter was so interesting. I have to say it would be a really difficult to find an agreement.

"There is no guarantee we do can this by December. We will do our best. The bilaterals will be chaired by my head of cabinet. We will engage both Mr Jean-Claude Juncker and myself. For sure, this is a very, very tough game today.”

Wolfgang Schäuble: Germany faces an "avalanche" of refugees

Germany is facing an “avalanche” of refugees, Wolfgang Schäuble, the country’s finance minister, has warned.

The refugee crisis is “our society’s rendez-vous with globalisation” and Germany will not be able to solve it alone, Mr Schäuble said.

It was the first time the influential finance minister has broken a self-imposed silence on the refugee question.

His intervention comes amid growing divisions in Angela Merkel’s government over her “open-door” asylum policy.

“Avalanches can be triggered if a careless skier hits the slopes and moves a bit of snow,” he said in what could be interpreted as a sideswipe at the chancellor, who has insisted Germany can cope with the record influx of asylum-seekers.

(L-R) Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande attend the Valletta Summit on Migration Photo: Reuters

“Whether we’re already at the point where the avalance has reached the valley floor, or whether it’s still in the upper slopes, I don’t know,” Mr Schäuble said.

The situation could only be solved by Europe working together, or it “could become pretty bad for us all,” he said.

His remarks came as it emerged the German government has little idea how many asylum-seekers are actually in the country.

The interior ministry said it has “no overall figure for the number of asylum-seekers being given accommodation in government reception centres”.

It is also unknown how many asylum-seekers have been distributed around the country under a sheme to relieve the reception centres, the ministry said.

The government has said it expects to host 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, but some observers believe that many have already arrived in the country.

Hollande: EU leaders will have migration summit with Turkey

French President Francois Hollande has said that EU leaders have agreed to hold a summit with Turkey, seen as the key to resolving the migration crisis.

"It was decided that there will be a European Council with Turkey invited," Hollande told reporters after a meeting of EU leaders here. "It could be held at the end of November or beginning of December."

EU Council President Donald Tusk also confirmed plans for a summit before the end of the year.

EU reaction on Valletta summit

A press conference to mark the end of the Valletta summit is underway. You can watch it here.

On border closures, European Council president Tusk says: “Every week decisions are taken that show how grave the situation is. Clearly, we need to regain control of our external borders.”

He says there will be a summit with Turkey by the end of November. “The clock is ticking. We are under pressure. We need to act fast as a union.”

President of the European Commission Juncker says he is “Not happy” that just 130 people have been relocated out of a target of 160,000 under his quota. At the current rate, they will achieve it by the year 2101. He insists nobody calls into question the scheme (doubtful if that is true).

Despite raising just €78 million of a target of €1.8bn, Juncker says the fundraising effort for Africa is going well.

In light of the poor response to the African fundraising drive, Mr Juncker will risk another bruising clash with member states already seething over the quota scheme with a new plan to raise some €2.5 billion to give to Turkey, in exchange for it agreeing to halt the flow of migrants over its border.

Oxfam: aid should not be conditional on cooperation on border control

"The Valletta summit's centrepiece, the EU Trust Fund for Africa, risks blurring the lines between aid for helping lift people out of poverty, and money to bolster African states’ border control.

"The EU and its member states need to make clear guarantees that the fund will be used to help vulnerable people, not build barriers. Aid to Africa should not be made conditional on cooperation on border control."

Work starts on the "new Jungle"

Work started today in the migrant camp known as the "Jungle" near the northern French port of Calais to build improved accommodation for 1,500 people, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

Bulldozers started flattening a sprawling area of four hectares (nearly 10 acres) within the camp, where 125 containers will provide more permanent, heated shelters for families.

Around 500 people were moved to a temporary zone with 10-man tents provided by French authorities for the first phase of the construction.

"These people will live in better conditions and will be priorities to move on to the more permanent camp," said Stephane Duval, from a local NGO overseeing the project.

People move a tent in the "New Jungle" migrant camp in Calais

The €18 million (£12.7 million) camp in the heart of the "Jungle" will include heated containers that can house 12 people each, and will have 50 staff to oversee daily operations.

The project, announced by Prime Minister Manuel Valls in August, will be paid for by France and the European Union and comes after mounting concern from aid groups over worsening health conditions in the "Jungle", particularly as winter sets in.

"We are a little behind schedule," said Duval, blaming delays in setting up the temporary zone. He said the containers would probably be ready for habitation within the first half of January.

The prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, Fabienne Buccio, told AFP that she expected a further 400 places to be ready by the end of the year for women and children at a local day centre.

However, local authorities estimate there are 4,500 people currently living in makeshift camps around Calais.

Buccio said health services were "overwhelmed" at the day centre where a tiny staff of one doctor, one physiotherapist, one psychologist and two nurses were carrying out 80 to 90 consultations per day.

Almost all the migrants, most from the Middle East and Africa, are trying to reach Britain, but tighter security has frustrated attempts to smuggle their way across the Channel.

Mounting frustration has led to clashes with police in recent days, and increasing reports of violence and theft around The Jungle.

France is trying to reduce pressure on Calais by busing migrants to other parts of the country.

Over a thousand have already volunteered for relocation, with two more buses leaving on Thursday for shelters in the regions of Brittany and Haute-Saone.

Dutch prime minister subbing in for Cameron

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has spoken of his pride at representing Britain at the European Council tonight - but insisted it was essential that the UK stays in the EU.

Mr Rutte will speak for Britain tonight at the EUCO after Cameron couldn't make it due to a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi - to the fury of Eurosceptics. It is the first such meeting since Cameron submitted his EU reform letter on Tuesday.

Under EU protocol, when a member of the leaders' club is absent they nominate an ally to speak on their behalf.

British reporters bumped into Mr Rutte on the streets of Valletta, where he is taking part in a summit on migration. He said he was delighted to be filling Mr Cameron's shoes.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gesture before the start of a working session at the European Union summit Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images

"I will be representing you as England tonight. The endless amount of people. Can you imagine?

"After four wars between the UK and the Netherlands, four wars - well, the last one was in 18th century, some time ago, I know - now representing the United Kingdom," he said, straightening his back and tugging his lapels in mock-pride.

Asked what he will say on Britain's behalf, he said: "I have had careful instructions from my dear colleague, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. I'm not sure I'm at liberty [to reveal]."

He said he would "carefully look" at the British proposals for reform.

"We have to do it step by step. I do understand David’s concerns and that he wants to get a good deal for Britain."

"I believe it is essential for Europe that UK stays in but also for the UK itself to stay in the European Union."

Cameron: border controls may have to be reestablished

David Cameron has indicated he believes European Union countries will have to reestablish border controls if the migration crisis cannot be resolved.

Speaking at a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Modi, he said:

"As for what Donald Tusk says about Schengen, Britain is not in Schengen, we have kept our own borders while being part of the European Union so it's not really for me to say.

"But obviously I want to help my colleagues in Europe deal with this migration crisis. That is why actually we've done more than any other European country to support the European asylum support officers that are helping to deal with this crisis on Schengen's external borders and will continue to do that.

"But clearly you need to have either a system with external borders or a system with internal borders. You can't have borders that don't work at either level.

"But as I say, Britain will remain out of Schengen, we will keep our own borders. We think that's important for our security."

Tom Hanks speaks out on the migration crisis

Perhaps an intervention from Hollywood will help solve the crisis.

Tom Hanks is appearing on CNN this evening saying that "civilised nations...should be able to address the problems and should be able to accept the realities of not just refugees and migrants, but the great humanitarian crises that are going on.

Summary

Matthew Holehouse writes from the a summit in Valletta, Malta:

The European Union's masterplan to halt the flow of migrants from Africa unravelled today amid warnings that the Schengen passport-free travel zone is on the brink of collapse with a series of states erected borders.

“Saving Schengen is a race against time and we are determined to win that race. Without effective control on our external borders, the Schengen rules will not survive,” he said.

EU plans to deport tens of thousands of people were watered down and a major fundraising drive fell badly short.

Leaders agreed African migrants who do not qualify for asylum in Europe should, ideally, not be forced to go home – raising serious doubts about how many can be expected to leave.

African leaders said the offer of aid was too little, and suggested their citizens should be treated no differently to those fleeing civil war in Syria.

Under a major gambit drawn up in Brussels, African states were to be offered €3.6 billion in aid and handed visas for students, entrepreneurs and diplomats, in exchange for accepting the deportation of thousands of failed asylum seekers. But both halves of the bargain fell short.

Around 125,000 migrants of sub-Saharan African nationality entered Europe in the past 18 months, according to figures from Frontex, the EU border office.

They include 52,000 Eritreans, 16,000 Nigerians, 6,500 Sudanese, 14,000 Somalians and 35,000 who could not be identified. EU leaders have said that those needing protection cannot be looked after unless those who do not are removed.

But the ‘action plan’ released today after a summit in Valletta, the Maltese capital, between EU and African leaders proved to be far less substantial than the six-tonne marble statue erected to mark the meeting.

Under plans drawn up by Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, member states countries would match the €1.8 billion allocated from central EU coffers for an ‘African trust fund’, to be spent on education, jobs and services across the continent.

Refugees who have reached the relative safety of Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne Photo: REUTERS

But a whip-round last night saw just €78 million raised, less than five per cent of the target.

“This is the usual behaviour,” said an exasperated Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament who has placed himself centre-stage of the crisis. “For the saving of banks, in one night we have hundreds of millions of euros. For saving lives, we are relatively reluctant.”

Meanwhile:

• Sweden has decided to temporarily reimpose passport checks for people arriving from other countries in the border-free Schengen area, as the country temporarily reintroduces border controls.

What are the main points from from the action plan on migration agreed by European Union and African leaders?

• EU to provide initial €1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) to a new Emergency Trust Fund to support projects aimed at reducing migrant flows from Africa to Europe and displacement of people within Africa

• To focus on projects which will reduce migratory pressures, such as fostering jobs and economic growth in areas migrants come from or transit through

• Opportunities for legal migration to be "promoted" - such as an increase in the number of EU-funded scholarships for African students and academics

• New programmes to be set up by the end of 2016 to increase protection and economic opportunities of displaced people in the Horn of Africa and North Africa

• Increased cooperation on combatting illegal immigration and people trafficking, including the creation of joint investigative team as a pilot project in key transit country Niger

• Repatriation of failed asylum seekers is to be accelerated. At least 10 African countries agreed to help European states identify illegal immigrants without official documents (making them difficult to deport)

Austria makes human trafficking arrests

Twelve members of a human trafficking gang, many of whose victims were from Afghanistan and Syria, have been arrested and international warrants issued for another five, Austrian police said.

The group trafficked around 1,800 people from the Serbian capital Belgrade through Hungary into Austria between February and September.

Most of them were men, women and children from Syria and Afghanistan, Franz Prucher, police chief in Lower Austria province told a news conference.

"This is most certainly one of our biggest successes," Mr Prucher said, adding all of the arrested were Serbs, many of whom had lived for years in Austria.

"They were highly organised, they had rented flats in Vienna so they could get a rest between their trips ... they were travelling in convoys with an advance party making sure there were no checks ahead."

Ten men and a woman pensioner were detained in Austria, while another man has been arrested in Greece, authorities said.

In August, the discovery of 71 dead refugees dumped in a truck on an Austrian highway provoked shock and outrage at the exploitation by gangs of traffickers, who extort money by promising to smuggle migrants into western Europe.

At least 20 migrants were found dead in this truck parked on the Austrian highway leading from the Hungarian border Photo: AP

For months, Hungary was one of the main transit countries for arriving migrants, with nearly 400,000 crossing the country this year alone.

Police said the gang had been operating at least since February and authorities had confiscated six vehicles and 50,000 euros ($53,575.00) during a 'sting' operation. While the head of the Austrian side of the gang was among those arrested, the overall chief was still at large and believed to be somewhere in Serbia together with the other fugitives.

The migrant crisis explained in 90 seconds

New border controls are "not to prevent people from coming to Sweden to seek asylum"

Sweden has reinstated border controls in a bid to gain control over the massive influx of migrants arriving in the country.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven insisted: "This is not a fence. We need to make sure that we have control ... We have to make sure we know who is coming to Sweden".

Meanwhile, the head of the Swedish Migration Agency Anders Danielsson said: "Introducing border controls is not to prevent people from coming to Sweden to seek asylum.

"On the contrary. They will have their case heard, but we need to (regain) control".

Police began carrying out identification checks on passengers travelling on trains crossing the bridge over the Oresund strait from Denmark, an AFP correspondent reported.

The Oresund Bridge between Malmo and Copenhagen

Police were also checking papers at at terminals for ferries arriving in southern Sweden from Denmark and Germany.

Those are the routes most used by migrants.

Sweden, a country of 9.8 million people, has taken more refugees as a proportion of its population than any other country in Europe. The Scandinavian country expects to receive up to 190,000 asylum seekers this year - the equivalent of 1.5 million people arriving in a country the size of Germany.

EU migrant crisis management in tatters

Peter Foster, our Europe Editor, writes:

The increasingly hypothetical world of EU migrant crisis management has been exposed once again by Germany's announcement that it is reinstating the so-called Dublin rules that require migrants to be sent back to the country where they first arrived and registered in the EU.

Germany has said it is re-applying the rule - excepting for Greece - to all arrivals since October 21, but as so often with the this crisis, the gap between the pronouncement and the reality is yawning.

In September the EU said it would relocate 160,000 migrants round Europe, but to date has managed a few hundred.

On the Dublin rules reinstatement question, it is hard to see how Germany is going to force people to go back, particularly when Eastern and Central EU nations have made clear they are not interested in taking refugees back.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó met the German announcement by pronouncing the Dublin system is "dead", before going on to list the recent successes of the Hungarian border security agencies in repelling migrants at the border.

The message seems clear - whatever the solutions to the migrant crisis, they will not involve Hungary, unless it means developing strategies to keep the migrants out.

EU not offering enough money to Africa

Macky Sall of Senegal, who is heading up the bloc of West African states, said the deal with the EU did not offer anything like the money needed to address Africa's problems.

He accused the Europeans of "putting too much emphasis on readmission (of illegal immigrants), perhaps because of public opinion."

"This question is already dealt with in the existing agreements between the EU and African states," added the Senegalese leader, one of Africa's political heavyweights.

"And I think there is also a fundamental, philosophical question: you cannot insist on Africans being readmitted to their countries of origin when you are welcoming Syrians and others. The numbers of Africans migrating towards Europe are not as great as people say."

Donald Tusk: "Saving Schengen is a race against time"

European Council president Donald Tusk warned Thursday that the bloc's Schengen open borders accord was on the brink of collapse as a result of the fallout from the migration crisis.

Citing Sweden's move to reimpose checks on arrivals from other EU countries and new measures in Germany and Slovenia, he told a news conference at a summit on migration on Malta that these showed EU states were under "huge pressure."

"Saving Schengen is a race against time," the former Polish premier said of the open border system among European states. "And we are determined to win that race."

That would require implementing the series of measures agreed amid great dispute among EU governments over the past few months, he said. "This includes, first and foremost, restoring external border control. Without effective border control, the Schengen rules will not survive."

"We must hurry, but without panic," he said after a summit with African leaders that will be followed by an emergency EU summit later on Thursday in Valletta to discuss migration and notably efforts to secure a deal with Turkey to slow departures.

His comments follow moves by Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden to reintroduce border controls or erect frontier fences to control migrant entries to their territory.

EU chief Tusk: “Saving Schengen is a race against time... We must hurry."

Sweden reintroduces border controls

Sweden has decided to temporarily reimpose passport checks for people arriving from other countries in the border-free Schengen area, as the country temporarily reintroduces border controls.

The move announced by the government late Wednesday means that Sweden is suspending the European Union's passport-free travel rules, to control the flow of migrants entering the country from Denmark and Germany. The government said the move would "bring order" to Sweden's reception of migrants and make sure they are registered as they enter the country.

With nearly 200,000 asylum-seekers expected by the end of the year, Sweden is receiving more per capita than any other EU nation.

Germany introduced temporary border controls in September. That hasn't stemmed the flow of migrants, but German authorities say it's given them more control of the situation.